IN THE CLASSROOM
A Teaching Revolution
Words of revolution rang through the halls of Crestview Hall - alliances were formed, friends betrayed friends, and people of opposing political ideologies engaged in bitter clashes as the citizens of eighteenth-century Paris and British North America rose up in rebellion against their governments. Or so one would think, if the setting had not been a modern classroom and the participants had not been 21st-century college students at IU Southeast.
This is Reacting to the Past (RTTP), an educational role-playing game, in which students are assigned the role of a historical figure and are tasked with navigating their way through an important real-world event. The game broadens students’ perspectives and enhances their skills as they network, engage in persuasive argumentation, write essays, and give speeches, as well as grapple with big ideas and concepts. The students must find their own way of working with others to help them meet their characters’ objectives.
Political science professor Dr. Margot Morgan introduced the pedagogy to IU Southeast faculty after receiving a grant to train other faculty. Dr. Morgan used a French Revolution game to increase students’ political awareness by having students portray historical figures across the whole political and social spectrum of the French Revolution. “When I had taught the course previously I found that students didn’t really understand traditional conservatism or how and why liberalism was so revolutionary,” said Morgan. “I added the game to make the battle between those ideologies come to life, while at the same time giving voice to the radical groups on the fringe.”
According to history professor Dr. Quinn Dauer, who used a simulation in which students build a new post-Apartheid government in South Africa, the game also helps students develop new ways of understanding and connecting with past events. Dauer said, “From the perspective of a historian, RTTP actively engages students in “historical thinking by encouraging students to address contingency, multiple perspectives, change and continuity over time, causality, and agency.” For Dauer, the games provide students with “an opportunity and platform to increasingly become independent learners” and “build community among their peers,” an important project for a school built on commuters.
Other professors who have used RTTP in their classes include political science professor Dr. Jean Abshire and history professor Dr. Kelly Ryan. In Ryan’s Revolutionary America class, students took on the role of New Yorkers during the time of the American Revolution, broadening beyond just the figures who are traditionally remembered in popular culture.
“Students were assigned roles as patriots, loyalists, moderates, and the crowd. The first three groups of students made speeches and tried to persuade members of the class to join or reject the Revolution. Students assigned in roles of the crowd constituted the group of citizens in early America who did not have voting rights; instead they had powers to create riots to force issues,” stated Ryan. This experience helped students understand how the disempowered have used their voices to disrupt and stimulate political and social movements.
The experience for students is demanding, but nevertheless popular. Chase Howard, a political science major, participated in an RTTP game in Dr. Jean Abshire’s East Asian Politics class. Students played out the events surrounding India’s independence movement in the late 1940’s. “The most important thing to focus on when talking about RTTP games is not what I learned in the game, but more so how I learned it. RTTP is hands down a much better way of learning about history, culture, and the processes of a historic event as compared to a classic reading of a textbook. The games put each student in an immersive experience that provides hands on, interactive learning,” Howard said.
Political Science major Zach Densford also emphasized how RTTP provides a more thorough and immersive understanding of coursework than students receive in a traditional academic setting. “These games in my view really help the students bring the coursework to life in a way that a lecture or a quiz is really unable to replicate,” said Densford.
Densford went on to describe what he himself got out of the experience. “Perhaps what stood out most to me in the games I have been a part of was just how well I felt the games work to emphasize the importance of analysis and communication; both of which are extremely useful skills to have,” he said.
According to Dr. Morgan, RTTP is an excellent way to engage students with historical events that is not always present in a traditional classroom environment. “The students had fun with the game, and I believe they came away with a stronger understanding of the belief systems of the time as well as the consequences that occur when those belief systems are taken to their logical political conclusions,” said Morgan.
RTTP immerses students in history, in addition to broadening students’ viewpoints on issues ranging from politics to gender to civil rights, while reinforcing the importance of being an active citizen today. “What I want is civic education, to try to create good citizens,” Morgan said. “Civic education to me is about community, communication, cooperation, creativity and critical judgment.”
— Christian Thomas